SLOW GAINS BY BOTH SIDES

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 287, 2 September 1942, Page 5

SLOW GAINS BY BOTH SIDES

Position In Russia BIDS FOR RZHEV & STALINGRAD Enormous Effort

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—-Copyright.) (Received September 1, 8.50 p.m.)

LONDON, August 31

The situation at Stalingrad, where the .Germans are making gains from enormous effort, is duplicated at Rzhev, where the Russians are slowly increasing the area under their control in the face of very tough resistance. The German propaganda machine today claimed a new advance toward Stalingrad, but warned journalists not to as* sume that the city’s fall was only a matter of days, The Russians displayed confidence regarding the outcome of the Rzhev battle bv permitting foreign journalists for the first time to see the actual fighting. British journalists report that the Russian offensive against Rzhev is being developed in two mam thrusts, north and south of the city, which have swung inward, but have not yet joined up. The Russians have cut the railway leading westward from Rzhev, and thus the German garrison, estimated at 90,000 picked troops, has lost the last connexion with its supporting points. The Russians west of . Rzhev are slowly forcing the Gerihans southeastward along , the right bank of the Volga. , Great Soviet Mortar.

The Germans are repeatedly launching heavy counter-attacks in all sectors. , t The correspondents state that tne Germans in some sectors have lost 60 per cent, of their personnel under the Russian barrages, in which the new Russian gun, “Katyusha,” has figured largely. Correspondents saw craters 30 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep where "Katyusha’s” projectiles had exploded. "Katyusha” is a big new mortar. Before the opening of the offensive on the central front the Russians doubled and in some places tripled the main -highway going westward from Volokolamsk, to give the military traffic the required momentum. The unusually wet summer left the heavy clay terrain' waterlogged, which threatened to impede the advance, but .Soviet sappers felled thousands of trees along the forest road, after which they nailed great boards across the logs at chas-sis-width. The log-fellers cleared a wide strip on each side of the road, which served as a tank highway. Giving a description of Subtsov before the Russians reoccupied the town, a correspondent with General Zhukov’s forces says: "The inhabitants were dying from starvation. Living skeletons wandered about the streets, their skins stretched tight over fleshless bones. All wore expressions of fear and spoke in whispers. Thousands of local inhabitants of the district were driven into forced labour camps.” “No Material Change.” A Soviet communique for the fifth consecutive time reports no material change on the front. It suggests fiercer German resistance on the Rzhev front, but says the Russians have recaptured several localities there. A German communique states that German troops south of Stalingrad are piercing the enemy .positions and wiping out considerable Soviet forces; also that the Germans now stand 15 miles south of the town. Paris radio declared that the Germans made a wide breach in the Russian defences north-west of -Stalingrad. GAIN BY GREAT NAZI FORCE South-west Of Stalingrad (Received September 1, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON, September 1. 'The Stockholm representative of tho “Dally Express” reports that a German column consisting of several hundred tanks, supported by a great number of Stukas and fresh infantry regiments, advanced four miles toward Stalingrad along the KotelnikovoStalingrad railway. The Germans claim they have reached the last defence belt 15 miles from the city’s centre. The Germans were severely mauled during this advance by artillery and Voroshilov tanks, and at some points they lost 80 per cent, of their men and tanks. The latest messages state that Marshal Timoshenko has sent in fresh reserves, who are holding well.

SPLENDID RESULT Air Raid On Helsinki

(Received September 1, 11.50 P-m.) LONDON, September 1.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” Stockholm correspondent says that the main food and clothing depot of the Finnish army, occupying a whole block in Helsinki, was burned down with masses of supplies during the Russian air-raid on Friday night. A big railway goods yard was also wiped out, and terrific damage done in the centre of the city. The Soviet air raid on Berlin on Saturday night was one of the biggest ever. Moscow says today that the great Siemens works, one of the largest electrical plants in the world, was hit, as well as munitions plants and gunpowder factories in Berlin’s industrial centre.

SEBASTOPOL’S LAST HEROES (Received September .1, 11.50 p.m.) ANKARA, September 1. Neutral military' observers returning from a visit to the Crimea state that isolated Russian units are still holding out in several fortified underground positions round Sebastopol. RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET Intended Sale To Turkey? (Received September 1, 11.45 p.m.) BERNE, September 1. The “Basler Nachrichten" quotes a Balkan rumour that Russia intends to sell her Black Sea fleet to Turkey. England and America are stated to be willing to finance the purchase.